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Sunday, 30 June 2013

A Tribute of Sorts - My Beauty Story

I dedicate this Beauty Story to my Beauty Idol. the original Principessa - My Grandmother!

I didn't grow up being a girly girl.

My life started out in a very different, complicated way that even though I was strongly encouraged to be feminine by some key influences I preferred to dabble in some traditional "boyish" habits. My extra-curricular activities included tree-climbing, marble battles in the dust, Kung-Foo movies and animated yelling at TV soccer games. I am pretty sure I wore a dress during most of those things (i think!)

My grandmother was the epitome of an old fashioned beauty queen, she was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen and when I was a little girl I thought her evenings were cut straight from an old Hollywood movie. I swear she looked and acted as if she was best friends with Audrey Hepburn and had Sophia Lauren on her speed dial (if she did, it wouldn't be a shocker!). She would put on her long silk bathrobe, sit in front of her magnificent huge vanity and spend an eternity brushing her long hair, smoothing on fancy, lovely scented potions...making her skin look and feel like velvet. In the morning she would get up early, preform her "spells" in the mirror and finally emerge out of the room looking like she was ready for a Sears catalog shoot (red lipstick included!) The whole ritual was so romantic, so feminine, so mesmerizing and so deliciously unattainable that although I much preferred climbing trees back then, I knew that one day I would want to recreate that scenario for myself.

You would think that with such glamorous genes I would grow up and grow in to such classic beauty, making the smallest ritual seem to be so effortless and movie worthy...like she did. Sadly and unfortunately that's not how things work out.

My beauty life has been very awkward to say the least and my cosmetic interest didn't bloom till much later on, and even then it was brought upon by a necessity, but I am evolving each day like all of you and always striving to improve, to discover that one bottle that will obviously change my life...right? I practice my very own beauty rituals, which are nowhere as fancy looking as hers did and I apply all kinds of creams and balms trying and failing miserably to achieve her velvety skin. I also regularly frighten people with random facial masks each week - you'd be surprised how easy that really is!

Despite the fact that she is gone now I will always remember all the things she taught me and showed me while she was alive. The strength of our relationship and contentedness is something i treasure so much and the fact that there are so many small things that remind me of her now is an unexpected blessing that warms my heart each day. I don't like the scent of Chanel No. 5 but I will always have a roller ball of it in my purse , just because a small whiff of it instantly transports me to her bedroom and that glamorous Hollywood vanity table.

She had many "beauty secrets" that she tried to pass on to me but I think the one that resonates the most is that we should always strive put our best foot forward no matter what the en-devour is. Regardless of what life was like for her, she was always beautiful, always strong, always determined and most importantly always dignified.

All in all I think my grandmother would be so proud that after all her training and constant reminders about what it takes to be a "true lady" her little tom-girl transformed into the ultimate girly girl with her very own fancy vanity table and even her own little beauty blog.

And eye cream! If nothing else - always, always use eye cream!

What or who is your beauty inspiration!

XOXO

ANJA

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